TalkBack: a conversational answering machine

  • Authors:
  • Vidya Lakshmipathy;Chris Schmandt;Natalia Marmasse

  • Affiliations:
  • MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA;MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA;MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 16th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

Current asynchronous voice messaging interfaces, like voicemail, fail to take advantage of our conversational skills. TalkBack restores conversational turn-taking to voicemail retrieval by dividing voice messages into smaller sections based on the most significant silent and filled pauses and pausing after each to record a response. The responses are composed into a reply, alternating with snippets of the original message for context. TalkBack is built into a digital picture frame; the recipient touches a picture of the caller to hear each segment of the message in turn. The minimal interface models synchronous interaction and facilitates asynchronous voice messaging. TalkBack can also present a voice-annotated slide show which it receives over the Internet.